1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to a rear airbag system, which supports a rear airbag to enhance protection of an occupant in the event of a rear-end collision, and allows a support unit to protrude upwards from a seat in response to inflation of the rear airbag to protect the occupant from flying materials such as fragments of glass occurring in the event of the rear-end collision.
2. Description of Related Art
When a rear-end collision occurs involving a car, the neck, head, or shoulder of an occupant of the car hits a seat back or a head rest, so that the occupant is apt to be injured.
One of safety devices provided for rear-end car collisions is an active head rest for preventing injury to the neck part of the occupant by varying the position of the head rest of a seat.
The active head rest for the car pushes up the head rest when the upper body of the occupant is pulled back by the rear-end collision, thereby resisting the instantaneous backward motion of the neck of the occupant. As a result, the active head rest serves to prevent injury to the neck.
Meanwhile, as another safety device provided for rear-end car collisions, a rear airbag has been developed. This rear airbag is used merely to mount a curtain airbag used for the sides of the car on a rear roof. In the event of a rear-end collision, the airbag deploys from the roof to the rear, thereby mitigating impact against the rear head of the occupant, and protecting the occupant from flying materials such as fragments of glass occurring at that time.
However, the active head rest and the rear airbag, both of which are conventional safety devices associated with the rear-end collision as described above, fail to effectively protect the upper body of the occupant such as the head, neck, or shoulder in the event of the car being in a rear-end collision. An impact is transmitted differently to the head, neck, or shoulder depending on the posture and height of the occupant who is sitting in the seat, so that it is impossible to effectively protect the upper body of the occupant.
In particular, since the conventional airbag is configured so that one end thereof is merely suspended on the roof of the car, it is not stably mounted, and is displaced when the occupant applies an external force in the event of the rear-end collision, so that it is impossible to fully protect the occupant.
Further, since the conventional rear airbag may be damaged by flying materials such as fragments of glass when the rear-end collision occurs, it is impossible to safely protect the occupant from those same flying materials. Furthermore, there is no guide for accurately guiding the airbag between a rear windshield and a head rest when the airbag is deployed, so that the airbag has a very low possibility of being deployed in place.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.